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Hunted for their pelt and bones and losing their habitat and prey, tiger populations are threatened throughout their range. In many places, they struggle for survival with burgeoning human populations competing for similar resources.

A long history of persecution.

For over 1,000 years, tigers have been hunted as status symbols, decorative items such as wall and floor coverings, as souvenirs and curios, and for use in traditional Asian medicines.

Hunting for sport probably caused the greatest decline in tiger populations up until the 1930s. In many areas tigers were also regarded as a pest that needed to be exterminated.

Between 1940 and the late 1980s, the greatest threat was loss of habitat due to human population expansion and activities such as logging.

In the early 1990s, the trade in tiger bone for traditional medicines became a major threat.